Acute Toxicity of Cadmium to Freshwater Ciliate <i>Paramecium bursaria</i>

Authors

  • Rodrigo C. Wanick Universidade Federal Fluminense
  • Thiago da S. Paiva Universidade Federal do Rio e Janeiro
  • Cacilda N. de Carvalho Universidade Federal Fluminense
  • Inácio D. da Silva-Neto Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Keywords:

Heavy metal, Cadmium, Acute toxicity, LC50, Ciliate protozoa

Abstract

The acute toxicity of Cd+2 was determined for the freshwater ciliate Paramecium bursaria through an assay which involved the exposure of the organisms to six different concentrations of the referred metal for a 24 hours period. After such, the lethal effect of cadmium was verified by accountancy of dead cells and the calculation of LC50 was made through of probit method (95% confidence interval). Our results showed a 24h-LC50 of 0.64 ppm (0.43 – 0.94), which means that P. bursaria is rather sensible to cadmium exposure if compared to others species of ciliates and metazoans studied. This study shows the high potentiality to employ P. bursaria as a bioassay organism in ecotoxicological studies of aquatic ecosystems and waste waters contaminated with cadmium.

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Published

2010-02-10

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2008)

Section

Research Papers

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